Anadarko, based in The Woodlands, Texas, “relinquished”
its stake in the ES-M-661 block more than six months ago and is
focusing on its assets in the Campos Basin, John Christiansen, a
spokesman for Anadarko, said in a telephone interview today.
Brazil’s oil regulator, known as ANP, didn’t provide terms of
the transaction in a statement today on its website.

The block is located 58 kilometers (36 miles) off the coast
of Espirito Santo state where Petrobras found heavy oil in July.
State-run oil producer Petrobras plans to continue exploring the
block and submit an assessment plan to the ANP, it said in a
July 11 statement.

Anadarko said last year it was seeking to sell its shares
in Brazilian offshore blocks to help pay off debt. The company
had interests in about 750,000 gross acres in six blocks off the
coast of Brazil in the Campos and Espirito Santo basins,
according to a U.S. regulatory filing in February.

Double Output

Petrobras and other explorers including billionaire Eike
Batista’s OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA are exploring in
deep waters of the Espirito Santo Basin, north of the country’s
largest discoveries in the Santos Basin. Petrobras plans to more
than double production to 5.7 million barrels a day in 2020,
mainly from fields off the coast.